Cohesion
by DownToTheSea
Summary: Helen and Nikola in the quieter times in between scientific discovery and saving the world.


**A/N: This is going to be a series of ficlets based off of the Nonsexual Acts of Intimacy meme on Tumblr. I'll get to the ones I was prompted first, but I loved all of them so much I wouldn't be surprised if I did some that I wasn't prompted, haha. Anyway, this is for "adjusting the other's tie/jewelry/etc." Enjoy!**

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"Helen, shall I hide an extra gun for you in my jacket?" Nikola called to Helen from the bathroom, where he stood in front of the mirror knotting his tie.

"Thank you, but no," Helen answered, her voice rather muffled, before appearing in the doorway behind Nikola. "I shouldn't need any extra tonight. Besides, I know how much you hate damaging the line of your suit." Her tone was dry, but she sounded amused, and she further graced Nikola by turning around, lifting her hair up, and saying coolly, "If you would be so kind."

"With pleasure, my dear." Nikola dropped his tie half-done and turned to her with lightning speed. Of course he could zip up her dress with a tilt of his head and a thought, but there was no way he would ever pass up the opportunity to do it with his own hands, relishing the tantalizing brush of her bare skin against his fingers.

He dropped a kiss to her neck when he was done, tie forgotten as Helen leaned into him, turning her head to kiss his cheek. Nikola hummed contentedly, thinking that perhaps this night would turn out a lot more interesting than he'd been expecting, but Helen stepped away a little and turned in his arms.

"There'll be time later, Nikola," she reminded him, though in a slightly regretful way, Nikola noticed with smug satisfaction.

"Aww, Helen," he said, holding out his hand to pull her earrings off the counter and twisting his fingers, levitating them into her ears. "Don't tell me you'd rather spend the night buttering up a few Sanctuary council members than back here, just you, me, that bed…"

"Buttering up is hardly how I would describe it," Helen said. "Sanctuary network business may seem boring to you, but with our Hollow Earth facilities expanding faster than planned, we desperately need to figure out how to accommodate our growth."

"Oh, Helen, you know what that kind of badass Sanctuary leader talk does to me," Nikola murmured.

"Well, if you like that, then you'll _love_ the meeting tonight," she said dryly. "If you're lucky, we'll get into staff recruitment and funding."

"Ooh, sexy." Nikola grinned.

Helen chuckled, her gaze shifting down to his half-knotted tie. "I'm surprised at you, Nikola," she said, nodding towards it. "Normally you'd rather be caught dead than mildly disheveled."

"Unless you're responsible for the disheveling," Nikola said with a wink. "But I'll fix it… Wouldn't want to make a bad impression on your Sanctuary people."

"I think my Sanctuary people are more concerned about your track record with world domination than your appearance, Nikola."

"Yet here they are, letting me into their little circle." Nikola turned to the mirror to fiddle with the knot. "Curiosity about the last of the vampires? I _am_ pretty fascinating, after all."

"Modesty becomes you so well." Helen watched him with amusement, a touch of unconcealed fondness, and rather a lot of concealed fondness, but he caught something in her tone that made him turn around and take a closer look at her.

"Unless they didn't want to let me in," he guessed. "Helen, did you passionately fight for me while I wasn't even around to swoon properly?"

"Nonsense," she said, but didn't quite catch his eyes. "You know more than anyone apart from myself about our technological capabilities, our power requirements, our…" She trailed off, glaring half-heartedly at Nikola.

"You can wipe that smug grin off your face. You're part of the Sanctuary now. An important part," she added, rather quietly. "It was foolish to exclude you, and I simply told them so."

"God, I wish I would've been there," Nikola said with relish. "Was Heinrich there? He might spill the details if I bribed him."

"Only Will was present." Helen's tone was carefully neutral, but it didn't take a genius of Nikola's caliber to figure out whose side he had been on.

"Damn. Well, I guess I'll just have to imagine it for myself," he said.

"I can assure you it was nowhere near as dramatic as I can see you picturing," Helen said. "The heads of house trust my judgement, for the most part. All I did was – give you a good reference."

"Brilliant, wonderful, astounding vampire genius, fantastic hair, also great in bed?" Nikola said, still grinning.

She rolled her eyes.

"Adores the head of the Sanctuary network and would do anything for her?" he added in a softer tone, and lifted up Helen's hand to kiss it.

Helen raised an eyebrow, but then her expression softened. "I left that part out." She reached up her free hand to touch his chest. "I told them I had faith in you. I always have, Nikola," she said gently, before curling her fingers around his tie and tugging him closer until their lips met.

Nikola lost himself pleasantly in Helen for a few minutes, one arm wrapping around her. The other he would have employed in a similar fashion, but Helen had a very tight grip on his hand and Nikola preferred not to slip out of it, caressing her fingers as his lips caressed hers.

"I suppose you couldn't postpone this council meeting?" Nikola asked hopefully when they separated so Helen could breathe.

"I'm afraid not," she said, her lips twitching. "Stay there a moment, I've made your tie crooked."

Smiling, Nikola waited while she straightened it then stepped back, though she maintained a hold on his hand.

"There," she said. "Now we're ready."


End file.
